My Echo, My Shadow, and Me
by JammersFlood
Summary: Follows Eliza out of the grave and into the Mojave, where she makes good friends and horrible enemies. All she has is her name, records of her failed delivery, and a ribbon that she can't leave behind. Meet the courier of the Mojave. *In the Sierra Madre*
1. Watching Over Me

_Night and dim lighting. Air thick with cigarette smoke. Man in a checkered suit. And a courier whose game was rigged from the start. The beginnings of how a courier became the most important person in the Mojave Wastes._

Elizabeth slowly opened her eyes to unfamiliar surroundings and a man she'd never met.

"You're awake. How 'bout that." He said

Confusion settled in as she sat up to get a better look.

"Wow! Easy there…Easy…You've been out cold a couple of days there now. Why don't you just relax there a second. Get your bearings. See what the damage is." He said as she looked around.

A quick scan of the room revealed that the mysterious place was a clinic, but more than likely also the man's home.

He gave her a few moments before he started asking questions. Trying to give her time to be comfortable. When she seemed a little less confused he began.

"So how about your name. Can you tell me your name?"

She scrunched up her nose in concentration. Her thoughts were all muddled and anything before she woke up felt like a hazy dream. But there was a name that she was able to remember. It must be hers if that was so, she figured.

"Mmn…Eliza…or Elizabeth…I think Eliza for short. I…I think…" Was her throat always this dry?

"Eliza huh? Not the name I'd of picked for you, but if that's your name, that's your name. I'm Doc Mitchell. Welcome to Goodsprings." Eliza felt a moment of remembrance before it went away again. Then the Doc started talking before she could think further.

"Now, I hope you don't mind but I had to go rootin' around your noggin there to get all the bits of lead out. I take pride in my needlework but you'd best tell me if I left anything out of place."

He handed her an old, pre-war REFLECTRON.

"How'd I do."

Her skin was awfully pale, her eyes a mossy green, hair black as pitch, and lips far too pale to be healthy. She had high cheekbones and a comparatively smaller frame. She came to the conclusion that she looked a hell of a lot like a porcelain doll. And boy, was it a little creepy. She quickly ran a hand through her long hair, immediately feeling like she was missing something.

"Did you…Have you…Seen a ribbon anywhere. I need…I…Can't seem to find it."

"Can't say that I have. But maybe you might try looking up at the graveyard over yonder. That's where

ol' Victor found ya."

"I guess I'll go there then…" She said while making a move to get up.

"Hey now…You can go there in a little bit. I'd just like to do a few more tests if you don't mind. Just to

make sure everything is well enough along."

"I…Sure."

A few minutes and tests later, Eliza was fitted with the Doc's old Pip-Boy, his wife's old clothes, and a

scant few supplies.

"You should also go see Sunny Smiles at the Saloon. She'll give you a few survival tips if you're

interested. Lots of nasty critters and people out there in the Wastes."

"I think I will. Thanks Doc, for everything. I'll repay you somehow I swear."

"Don't worry about it. I think the only repayment you could give me would to be safe and not get

yourself killed out there."

"I'll try…"

"I mean it. And good luck."

"Thanks…I'll see you later then…"

And with that she stepped outside to the blinding light of the Mojave Sun.

**Alrighty then. This was a short chapter, I know, but it's really only meant to be an introductory**

**chapter so hopefully the others will be longer. A word of warning too, because my eyesight kind of**

**sucks and I didn't have my glasses when I started playing Fallout 3, I thought it said Stinpacks not**

**Stimpacks. So, if ever in this story you see Stinpacks, I beg pardon. I honestly didn't figure that out**

**until like…two days ago. *Sweat drop* Anywho, I started this because I want to get back into the**

**writing groove and this is my practice. That's why it kind of sucks. I also apologize for that. I'll try to**

**get better. I also apologize for differences of spelling too. I'm Canadian so you'll see a lot of 'extra' u's.**

**So where the American (I know that a good majority of you aren't American because this is obviously**

**a national site and…ya'll know that anyway…but…) spelling of colour is color, I obviously spell it as**

**colour. Yep. Now, because I'm here I wanted to list my top ten favourite New Vegas characters. I'd**

**also like to know your top ten if you don't mind writing it out. I also want to put Doctor Ada Straus,**

**Doctor Usanagi, and a few others in there but…I ran out of numbers. I like doctors because they have**

**Stinpacks. And to me that's better than finding gold. Yes, I'm odd. **

**Boone.**

**The King**

**Arcade Gannon**

**Doc Mitchell**

**The Lonesome Drifter**

**Julie Farkas**

**Raul Tejada**

**Marcus**

**No-Bark Noonan**

**Papa Khan**

**Blessed be,**

**JammersFlood**

**P.S. Please click the review button! It'll make at least one author a very happy person.**


	2. Remnant of a Memory

**AN: Hi, hi! Alright, chapter two. Last chapter I noticed a lot of repetitiveness in words. Heaven help me. 'Also' and 'so' were used far too much for my liking, and I didn't mean for there to be so many spaces. Word sort of hates me sometimes. HOPEFULLY that doesn't happen again.**

**This will probably be the last chapter on Goodsprings because everyone (me) knows that I'll get bored writing about the same place for too long. It gets to the point where it borders on being almost as annoying as Orzammar in Dragon Age Origins. Just saying. But on to the point of saying this, I want to go the road less travelled and send poor Eliza to the Sierra Madre instead of going to Primm or Novac at first. I don't want to spoil anything for anyone if they haven't played…what's it called…God damnit…There's Honest Hearts and then…Blank... *Sighs* So would ya'll be okay with…Ah, to hell with it! My story, my rules. **

**Umm…I think that my authors notes generally tend to be longer than my actual stories. Something stupid though; I can only snipe with guns like pistols and revolvers and fight close range with rifles, shotguns, and Ballistic fists. God I'm so screwed up. I'm not even religious!**

After getting over the initial blindness of the light, Eliza got her first real look at the small, sleepy town of Goodsprings. Coming down the hill she spotted the Saloon and General store and decided to head there to talk to Sunny Smiles; seeing as how the Doc warned her that an assortment of critters would sometimes roam by the Graveyard. But before she made it too far, a big, blue robot approached her with its cheesy cowboy picture and country twang.

"Howdy pardner! May I say, you're looking fit as a fiddle!"

She smiled sweetly, glad to hear a compliment.

"You must be Victor. Thanks for digging me out of that grave."

"Don't mention it! I'm always ready to lend a helping hand to a stranger in need."

Eliza couldn't help but feel a twinge of caution when being near this robot.

"Hmn…How did you happen to find me exactly?"

"I was out for a stroll that night when I heard the commotion up at the old bone orchard. Saw what looked like a bunch of bad eggs so I laid low. Once they'd run off, I dug you up to see if you were still kicking. Turns out, you were, so I hauled you off to the Doc right quick."

"I'm very glad that you did Victor." She had a thought. "Did you happen to see a dark red ribbon when you dug me up?"

"I think so. Sorry I didn't get it but you didn't look so good at the time. I didn't think to grab it."

"That's okay. I will say though, that I've never seen a robot like you before."

"I'm a Securitron., RobCo, security model 2060-B. If you ever see any of my brothers, tell them Victor says 'Howdy'."

"Will do. And thanks again Victor. I owe you one."

"Again, don't mention it. Happy trails!"

"Bye!"

So her ribbon was still there. She thought. That was good. Eliza then kept on her way to the Saloon to meet Sunny. Before going into the door she had a very brief conversation with Easy Pete, before stepping inside, placing her in front of a barking Cheyenne. The woman behind her was Sunny Smiles. Just the girl that Eliza had been searching for. Sunny first took her out to shoot at empty Sunset Sarsaparilla bottles which the Courier had trouble with. When asked to help clear out geckos after that small bit of practice, Eliza agreed in the hopes of miraculously getting better.

They snuck up on a handful of geckos at the first area.

"Alright," Sunny began, "I'll give you the first shot. Make it count."

"Okay."

Eliza aimed the worn down Varmint Rifle Sunny had given her, at the closest gecko to where they were hiding. She pulled the trigger and ended up hitting the rock behind the dog sized creature.

"Damn it!" A few more curses fell from the Couriers mouth as the geckos ran toward her.

Eliza swiftly slung the rifle onto her back and whipped out the 9mm Doc had given her. She sent a bullet through every single geckos brain. Effectively ending their lives.

"Something tells me that you're not a rifle kind of gal." Said Sunny.

"Ya, I guess so. Stupid screwed up shooting skills."

Sunny just laughed and they continued on.

At the last water area, Eliza ended up saving a settler who had decided to go alone to fetch some water. Eliza had _just _made it on time and the woman had thanked her profusely. The woman compensated her and left to go back home.

After that, Eliza also agreed to gather supplies to learn how to make what Sunny called 'Healing Powder'. It fit into her plans anyways, so she had figured why not.

It took her no time at all to clear the Graveyard of the bloatflies, and she proceeded to look around. She caught sight of the snow globe but tripped into her grave when she tried to go to it. She spit out a mouthful of dirt, then looked around the hole. And there, sitting innocently under some dirt was her precious ribbon. She pulled it out and expertly tied her hair back into the popular Wendy Welder style. A few memories flashed behind her eyes, but went away just as quick. A headache followed and she just laid there awhile. Eliza got up a few minutes later and pocketed the traitorous snow globe and a few of the Broc flowers. She desperately wanted to dig up the graves to loot their goods, but she left them after her conscience chased her away.

At the school house she retrieved the Xander roots, whatever she could take from inside (that included the contents of the safe), and she killed all of the mantises. She learned how to 'live off the land' after returning to Sunny then went back and fixed the radio for Trudy. Eliza talked the woman into letting go of more caps which she then spent on a hot meal. When Doc Mitch offered her a bed at the clinic, she took it. That was her first day as a new woman. On her second, she traded most of her supplies save a few things for Stinpacks and a few caps. When she was done, she had about 100 caps and 15 Stinpacks. That, for her, was good enough for her until she found more to trade. The place she had been hearing about on her Pip-Boys radio sounded like just the thing. So, with what little supplies she had, Eliza set off to find the Sierra Madre in hopes of raising her fortunes.

**AN #2: Yes, I know that Elizabeth would only be a Lv. 1 character at this point, but, let's pretend that going to a place where being Lv. 20 or higher is more than ordeal. And yes I'm skipping the Ringo mission for now. And the Nipton one, and the Primm, and Novac ones. Let's pretend that that convict escape and Nipton slaughter hasn't happened yet. So ya, chapter 2…It sucked I know. I'll also try to make chapter 3 a bit longer. I always end up writing very short ones…*Sighs again* Thanks for the review I think anonymous viewer and please review you guys. Give me some good old constructive criticism.**

**Blessed be,**

**JammersFlood **


	3. I Walk to Sleep

**First things first, I'd like to point out that I said "that being Lv. 20 is more than ordeal". Which doesn't make much sense…At all…You know when a word or a phrase pops into your mind while you're writing something and then you end up writing it down? That's what happened, I think. I can't remember what the word was supposed to be, but there you go. Second, I'd like to thank Marie and AgressiveNegotiations for their lovely reviews (and alerts). I greatly appreciate both and I hope that you will enjoy this chapter as well. The last thing is that chocolate rum cake is delicious. Now, without further ado, let chapter 3 commence!**

Eliza had heard from Sunny that Deathclaws had 'moved in' near Sloan, making the Long 15 considerably more dangerous than normal; and that was probably why the man in the checkered suit had gone the long way around to New Vegas. She decided to follow his example and go the same way. She'd stop at Nipton for food and housing, then go along until she found the source of the broadcast. And, if need be, she could always stay the night at Novac.

She decided not to stop off in Primm, due to the fact that she wanted to get to her first destination before night fall. She was met with only a few problems on the road, one of them being a few Radscorpions who had wandered too far, the other being a small gang of raiders. Both groups met a swift end.

She had taken the _Merc Adventurer Outfit_ off of one of the women who was similar in size to her. Eliza's motto was: 'don't let a good thing go to waste', and the armor would serve her far better than the old, hand-me-down jumpsuit. From the rest of the corpses she took whatever was of value, or anything that she could use. The rest she left to the more desperate of scavengers. After, she continued on her walk as if nothing had happened. At about the time that darkness fell, Eliza saw the path leading up to the city. She cursed silently at herself for deciding to eat dinner at the Outpost instead of just eating while she walked. But it was already said and done and there wasn't any use complaining.

Eliza went off to rent a bed in one of the two houses owned by the Motel. However, all the beds had been taken and the only beds left were the ones in the trailers. Apparently this was a normal occurrence. NCR soldiers were always taking up the spaces. Soldiers from most parts of the Mojave who were either too poor for Vegas, or too lazy to go to Primm, would go there on their leave for cheap booze and cheap…company. The proprietor gave her a ticket with a trailer number on it and advised her to go see a local man named Hunter for security against the scorpions.

He let her into the house after a series of questions to make sure that she meant no harm. He was an older man, with creases in his brow and balding white hair.

"So…Mr. Hunter…Miss Leyna said something about protection against scorpions." She said this while eying the metal box full of said creatures. They creeped her out , but she chose to ignore them for the sake of not angering the man.

"Yes. For the right price. I don't give my traps away fer free."

"Uhh…How much?"

"Hundred caps. Fair bargain, ya ask me."

_Good God! I'll just sleep with one eye open then. _She thought.

"That's…A little too steep for me. Thank you for your time sir but…I'll make do."

He harrumphed loudly. "Don't come cryin' to me tomorrow when yer dead missy."

"I'll keep that in mind. Sir. Goodbye Mr. Hunter."

And with that she practically ran out of the man's house.

The rest of her night was a restless one. She woke up to the tiniest of sounds, which meant that she woke up a lot. The trailer was very old, thus, it was as squeaky as hell. When dawn came, Eliza was already handing her ticket and buying a small breakfast from Miss Leyna Reel. The ice cold bottle of water went into her pack, and she ate the food on her way out.

A few minutes after that, Eliza vowed never to stay in the city again. She figured that she'd still hate it even if she had actually managed to get a bed. It was just full of less than likeable people and the lack of sleep she had gotten was enough to make her a little bit cranky.

* * *

><p>Around nine hours of walking, and a parched throat later, Eliza finally made it to Novac. The first thing she noticed was the large, ridiculous looking dinosaur with a gaping maw. The second was the familiar blue robot waiting at the front gates.<p>

"Victor?"

The screen lit up a bit.

"Well howdy pardner! Fancy meeting you here."

Her head cocked to the side in confusion. "Are you following me?"

"No, no…I was just on my way up to New Vegas when I saw you coming. Thought I'd say hi to an old friend and see how you were doing."

"I'm…fine."

"Well that's good. I guess I'll be seein' you then."

"Okay then…Bye."

She watched a minute as Victor rolled off. Then she went into the lobby to check out a room. And hopefully she'd get one this time.

Jeannie May had seemed sweet to Eliza, but there was something about her that sent up little warning bells in the back of her mind. Still, she ignored it and made her way through the gates. However, on her way to the stairs, she walked into a living, breathing six foot wall with a red beret.

"Watch it." The man growled.

Eliza blushed and scrambled to her feet. "Sorry! Sorry. I really need to be more careful. I'm Eliza by the way."

She held out her hand. He didn't take it. The once pink blush became a darker shade of red.

"Okay then…umm…I'm just going to go over there." She said while pointing in the general direction of her room. "See ya…" And for the second time that week, she ran away from a man who _hadn't_ been shooting at her.

**AN: Wow, I'm hopeless. I know that I've probably already mentioned this, but I'm trying to work out different styles of writing. (Like 1****st**** person. 2nd person…etc.) My best is by far 1****st**** but I wanted to try something different. Try and expand my palette. I'm also working on my conversations. If any of you have any tips or advice for me, I'd greatly appreciate it. I know this kind of sucks right now but I promise to try and get better. Hmm…Oh ya. First Boone appearance! (Grammatically, 'ya', and more than one exclamation mark is incorrect, but to hell with that. It's Boone. I warn you now that I have a slight obsession with Boone and the name Boone. It's so fun to say.) *Clears throat* Right…Disclaimer…All rights reserved to Bethesda and Obsidian. The title belonging to the song We Three by the Inkspots. Anyhow, I have an episode of Red vs. Blue to watch in approximately 1 minute and 30 secs.**

**Blessed be,**

**JammersFlood **


	4. The Great Blue Wizard

Eliza woke up at around 12: 15 that morning. She had slept in because of her previous night of not sleeping much at all. Due to this delay, she quickly packed up her few belongings and headed out the door. She only stopped to take the room key back to the lobby before heading north-east towards the source of the mysterious broadcast.

It took her a grand total of three and a half hours to find the Abandoned BoS Bunker just a few hundred meters from Camp Forlorn Hope. She had a bit of trouble pulling up the solid metal hatch but was able to after a few hard tugs. As soon as it was open though, she could smell the sickeningly sweet smell of death. That was her first indication of something being _very _wrong with the mission that she had assigned herself. Eliza, however, was no quitter. She saw the cause of the smell once she climbed down the ladder and immediately paled at the sight.

The first thing of note that popped into her mind was the slave collar. The second being that he had been decapitated. Thus, someone had murdered him and that didn't set too well with Eliza at all. She wasn't too keen on the idea of being some psychos next 'fix'. But she forced her feelings of dread and 'run the hell away' from her mind. So, she went down the stairs.

That's when she began to hear the radio, loud and clear. Sure enough, there it was sitting in the middle of the room, under a spotlight. Red flag number two had been raised. Glancing over to her left revealed the locked door and wall terminal. Both, she decided, to figure out later. Although something told her that that might be her last chance. In any case, Eliza entered the strange little room.

Her mind registered a clinking sound, followed by the sound of escaping gas. It was too late by the time she realized that it was a trap, for she was falling and her vision was quickly fading to black…

* * *

><p>There was a series of quick beeps and Eliza woke up. Looking at her trusty Pip-Boy to determine if it was the culprit, she realized it was 5:30 am, two days from when she had woken up in Novac. The final red flag rose, just as she caught the faint hint of poison in the air. That caused her to look at the hellish courtyard around her and the unyielding, blood red sky above. Then her eyes came back to the courtyards heart, to look at the flickering blue lady, standing in the middle of the fountain. She had the same voice as the one from the broadcast.<p>

But her voice was interrupted by that of an old man's, and her silhouette faded to show the face that presumably belonged to the voice.

"You're finally awake then. Took you long enough."

She was almost afraid to talk but decided that a whisper was a good compromise.

"Who are you? Where am I?" She suddenly felt the slave collar around her neck and silently panicked. "What's this thing around my neck?" She asked.

"So many questions," he sighed. "That is a slave collar and you may call me Father Elijah. As for where we are, this place is the Sierra Madre. Beautiful isn't it?"

_Maybe once, _she thought, _but now it's eerie obviously, but also a little…sad._

"Uh…yes." She said absently.

"It's the lost jewel that took me quite awhile to find. You see, the Sierra Madre was built over 200 years ago. It was to be a place to get away for awhile, to begin again, and to raise your fortunes. But on the day that it was to open, the bombs fell. The casino went into a lockdown and the Sierra Madre never had a chance to open. Eventually, the Cloud settled over this area, preserving everything here. But that's neither here nor there. I'm interested with what's inside of it. Because in there are treasures and technologies beyond anything we have ever seen. But I plan to change that."

"I'm guessing that this is where I come in, right? Or else you wouldn't be telling me all this, and I wouldn't have this…collar around my neck."

"Right you are! You will be doing as I command, not that you have a choice in the matter. If you try to disobey me _or _run away, I will set your collar off to explode."

Eliza gulped. "Joyous."

"I'm glad that we've come to an understanding. Now, on to business. There are others here that you will need in order for you to set of the Gala event…"

"Uh…excuse me, but what is the Gala event?"

"That isn't important right now. What is, is that you find the three others. I suggest starting with the FEV reject seeing as he will obey without question. I've uploaded their co-ordinates on your Pip-Boy."

"FEV reject?"

"Yes. I believe he calls himself Dog. Fitting really."

"Dog, huh? That's…odd. What about the other two?"

"Christine and Mr. Domino. Mr. Domino has been here longer than I have, and Christine followed me here."

"Why?"

"That is not relevant. Any other questions?"

"Yes. What is this 'Cloud" thing that you speak of?"

"The Cloud is a poisonous gas that settled on this area awhile ago, I presume. It makes sleeping out in the open air impossible."

"Why's that?"

"Simply put, you won't wake up."

"Oh…" She said. By this point, she was cursing herself for ever thinking about going into this hellhole. Now with the news that she wouldn't be able to sleep, she was mentally kicking herself. Her stomach grumbled. She then realized that she hadn't eaten in three days. _Damn._

"What about supplies? I don't seem to have any of my stuff save my ribbon and my Pip-Boy. Did you take it?" She asked.

"No. The Sierra Madre seems to take all belongings upon entry as an active security measure. I've tried to override it but all of my attempts have proven fruitless. It's like it has a mind of its own. The most I can give you is a Holorifle. Before you ask, it is a gun I constructed after being here for some time. It seems to work well enough against the residents here, and should keep you from dying for the time being. As for everything else…You could either scavenge it from the ruined buildings, or get it from the vending machines found all over the property. You just need some of the chips to get them to work."

"…Residents?"

"Yes. The Sierra Madre seems to have some very interesting locals. They do not die easily and I simply

suggest trying to avoid them if at all possible."

"What do you mean, 'don't die easily'?"

"Just as I said. They have to either be disintegrated or have at least one limb hacked off. I don't know why but that seems to be the only way to kill them."

"That's…disturbing. And what of the Cloud? Does it not affect them."

"No. Strangely enough. It seems that they are immune to it."

"Hmm…Where are they?"

"Around. They don't like being around the holograms much. That's why we see so few here in the villa. However, there are an abundance of them in the Puesta del Sol and the Puesta. But that isn't of any concern to you at the moment."

"Right…Is there anything else that I should know?"

"Yes. You should probably try to stay away from the holograms. Get too close and they will attack you. I don't know why that is, but if that happens, you can't exactly shoot back. Just shooting at their image would do nothing, you'd have to find and either destroy or deactivate their emitters. You'd just have to find where they are. The other thing you should be aware of, is that there are a lot of radios around here. They were meant to be there so that music could be heard wherever you went. Now, the wires have decayed slightly and the radios emit a dangerous frequency that seems to set off the slave collars. You'll have just under a minute before it goes off, but if you hear beeping, you should probably step back and find out where it is coming from. And you should remember that not all of the radios can just be switched off. There are also closed and open radios. The open ones have a blue light and have to be shot at. The red ones however, are impervious to damage and need to be turned off from a terminal somewhere near the radio."

"Anything else."

"Hmm…Yes, it would seem there is. Your slave collar is connected to the other three. So if one person dies, everyone else dies with them. And before you ask, yes, it was necessary. Every time we would get anywhere, either someone would die or they'd decide that they wanted the treasures for themselves, and turn on their teammates. Greed has made it very difficult for me to get to where I want, but I am hoping that it will be greed that will finally get me to where I want to be. The last thing of note, I suppose, would probably be to watch out for traps. This place is full of them, and most can be fatal. You should watch your step and take things slow. I don't need to wait for the next group to come along."

"Thanks for your concern there gramps."

He let out a frustrated sigh. "Just get on with your mission and be as quick as possible. We are done here." And with that, his picture disappeared, leaving the fountain to be home to the mysterious lady once again.

"Well this surely is interesting." She said to herself quietly. "Now what was this about coins?"

She peered into the fountain and saw that there were a bunch of small tokens littering the bottom of it. She scrounged them up and went over to the smaller fountains to do the same. In doing so, Eliza was able to collect 37 chips. She went over to the vending machine and bought a water and a box of Cram. She had never really liked Cram, but it was what she could afford, and what she had time for. She sat on the fountain as she ate, but was disturbed by the constant sound that bordered on hissing and mumbling. She continually glanced over at the alleyway that led off to where she was supposed to go because that's where she thought it was coming from. She ate quickly.

The first thing she did before checking it out, was to search through the nearby garbage cans, She'd found a few odd things in them, in the past, and sure enough, she found some odd looking knives, a carton of cigarettes, and a bottle of Nuka Cola. She put all of the things into the small pack that she had woken up with. Then, after slinging it onto her back, she readied her Holorifle and cautiously went forth into the alley way.

With each step she took, the hissing/murmuring grew louder. It creeped her out more than anything else ever had, and her stomach was doing nervous flips. Screaming and begging her to turn the other way. Eliza however, no matter how much she wanted to turn around, knew that she had to keep going if she wanted to ever leave.

She took a deep breath and crept around the corner. On the other side of it she caught her first glimpse of the ghost people. It was a trapper, and it just stood there. Head cocking sideways every so often, jittery-pianist like hands moving, and an eerie, non- human, breathing pattern. It wore pitch black attire from head to toe, making the only thing about it truly visible was its eyes. Eliza caught her breath, and quietly aimed her gun. She pulled steady on the trigger, and once again missed . She had been aiming for its head but she ended up shooting right beside its feet. Both the flashiness and the heat emitted from the gun alerted the Ghost Trapper to her presence.

"God-friggen-damn!"

Cursing up a wall, Eliza holstered the traitorous gun and took out her new found knife. She crouched into a fighting stance. She took a few swipes at his throat and then plunged it into where his heart should be. He looked to the left, while jumping full-circle over to the right. The knife was still embedded into his chest. Then he charged, both knocking her to her feet and sending her last weapon flying. She got back on her feet and looked around for something to use but came up empty handed.

"Oh come on!"

She glanced down at her fists, up at the Trapper, then back down to her fists.

"Alright Eliza, put up your dukes. "

When he came close, she gave him the uppercut of a lifetime. He fell over unconscious and she stepped into action immediately.

She ripped out the knife and began to hack of its arm like a madman. It was when she heard a loud pop and a glob of…goo landed on her cheek that she stopped. Eliza looked at the substance to discover that it was like a radioactive mixture of blood and pus. She gagged, then tried to wipe it off. Tears welled up in her eyes when her attempts proved futile. She sat in the corner crying for a few minutes before deciding to pull herself back together.

"Ain't no sense crying about it girl. If you just sit here feeling sorry for yourself, you'll never get back home."

She took a deep breath, picked her weapons up, and went off to find Dog.

**I know that this chapter is really late and I am really sorry about that. I was visiting my relatives and I had THOUGHT that they had internet. They did last time I was there. I know better now, and I will not assume anything again. Thanks to AggressiveNegotiations and TheReaper55 for your lovely reviews!**

**Blessed be,**

**JammersFlood**


	5. A God and His Dog

Eliza had decided to retrieve "Dog" first, on the advice of the mysterious Father Elijah, whom she didn't really trust. She had been thinking about him, trying to discern what his personality was truly like. There was a part of her that felt as if he was just a confused old man that needed some help to see the right path. Deep, deep down she wished it was true. The wise way he talked, and the slight air that was set about him, even if he had only been talking through a hologram, reminded her of someone she knew and loved. Her grandfather perhaps? The identity of who he reminded her of was next to non-existent, but still the remnant of it remained. In any case, she was scared by how much she wanted to trust him.

She shook her head in an attempt to rid herself of the thoughts. Now wasn't the time, the hissing had started again. Eliza froze up in fear for a moment before a lone Hunter came into view. The last time she had come into contact with the ghost people, she had run into two of them, and ever since then she was afraid of running into another group. The last one had almost meant her death.

Sure, she was a strong girl, but her combat skills were less than desirable. When fighting with a knife, she was too afraid to get up close enough, and too afraid of feeling her knife tear through what she presumed was its flesh. Not to mention being splattered by its blood. When she fought with a rifle, her aim was so off the mark, that she could almost imagine the ghost people laughing at her beneath their eerie looking masks. She sighed, feeling both hopeless a_nd _helpless.

As her fortune would have it, the Hunter heard the near silent escape of breath. It turned quickly and caught her in its sights. Eliza, however, felt like crying again as she pulled out the knife. God help her, but she knew that was the only weapon right now that she was 'decent' with. Decent, of course, being relative in term to the amount of clothing that the 'ladies' at Gomorrah wore, which was to say next to none.

By some sort of miracle, Eliza killed it with only a few minor scratches on her arms, and a few splats of blood on her face. The bloods sulfuric scent wafted into her nose inducing a sneezing fit from the poor woman. She tried to stop it as best she could, because to her, each sneeze sounded like a ringing bullet in the near empty streets. Today was definitely not her day.

She quickly looted the Hunter and continued onto the place where the Pip-Boys marker was leading her to. As she got closer, she could swear that she could hear some sort of bell incessantly ringing somewhere in the direction that she was going. Needless to say, she didn't like how attention grabbing the noise was. When she got close enough, she realized that it was in fact coming from where she was headed. _I really, REALLY, hate this place! _She thought.

For one, the ringing was driving her to insanity, and two it was going to draw a lot of attention. Eliza had a small, inner debate on the benefits and downsides to running. Grudgingly she decided that the cons far outweighed the pros. So, in she headed to the old, and as of now noisy, police station.

The first thing she saw was the big, hulking blue…_thing…_in the single cage in the office. Eliza, although having traveled plenty, could never remember seeing any Super Mutants or Nightkin before in her life. She couldn't determine if it was going to be docile, but she thought that she'd better give it a chance first. After all, she didn't have much of a choice.

She took two steps and was met with a high pitched beeping that she felt in throat. Eliza panicked and went back to her original position.

"What the hell was it that the old man said?" She said as she scanned the room. She then saw the radios and her face brightened with the fact of remembering.

"Right! Shoot the radios…Or was it turn them off…" She scratched the back of her head. Eliza shrugged and pulled out her holorifle. "Please work…" She aimed the gun at the radio on the desk, only to hit the bar behind it. Fortunately for her, the shot bounced off of it and hit the radio causing it to explode. Eliza's eyes went as big as saucer and she pumped her fists into the air.

"I'm going to go ahead and say that counts."

The first thing she went to was the desk. Inside she found a Police Pistol and a bit of ammo for it. Eliza was in all honesty, wishing that she'd at the very least be able to aim this gun properly. Oh, how she hoped. The other desk held similar stuff, save for a half empty bottle of whiskey. She left it there.

The next thing was to check out the cage door, to see if she could open it. The beeping started again. And, just as before, Eliza panicked. Backing up she scouted the room again. There was a radio on the desk in the left corner. She shot it perfectly and the thing exploded. Boy, was she happy. Giddily, she went back to her previous task, but the beeping started again. Again backing off, she found that there was a radio underneath the desk near the cage door. She huffed and destroyed that one too. She went back and the beeping started a third time. "Hell hating lollipops!"

Venturing into the little hallway, she found the culprit and shot it twice for good measure. Eliza crossed her fingers and went back to the cell, only to find out that he wouldn't talk to her. She was now thoroughly upset. Eliza begrudgingly searched for a key, and wound up with a bunch of stuff from a locked room and a key to the basement.

In the basement, she found more radios, a holotape, and a message from the Nightkin upstairs telling her to play the tape near him. She also looted everything worth taking before she went to complete her little mission.

* * *

><p>Eliza played the holotape.<p>

"_Dog, back in the cage."_

The Nightkin stood up and stared at her curiously as he began to talk. "What have we here? …You weren't what I was expecting. I'm disappointed. Still…even if you aren't my intended guest, you take direction. Good. You can't have been an idiot to figure out how to release me from my cage…or perhaps you are, with that leash on your arm and the one around your neck…with our collars and manacles, why, we might as well be kin." His voice had a sort of regal-ness to it. Eliza saw the name Dog engraved into his flesh.

"That name on your chest…Are you Dog?" She asked timidly.

The hint of a growl was present in his next words. "The carving's a reminder, for mirrors and for Dog. Dog who you heard coming in, howling and hungry as always. I've been trapped in here for some time, then you come along and let me out. So…you opened my cage for a reason. Now…I want to know why."

She was going to answer, but there was something that was bothering her.

"You have a multiple personality disorder, don't you? Some sort of trauma caused this?"

He stared a moment. "Trauma…yes, in a manner of speaking. Do you see these wounds of his, covering his skin…the bear trap on his arm? He placed his own hand in it. The name he carved in his chest? To remind him of who he is, he inflicts pain on himself to silence me, when all I try to do…Hrr!...He cuts, hurts, and tries to murder me out of him. He won't succeed. Just makes me angrier. Dog is the beast, we simply change cages. Like the one here."

"Why did you lock yourself in the cage?"

"No…Why did I lock _him _in the cage. I locked him in because I could feel him…getting hungry again. There wasn't much time. If Dog roams, he gets into trouble…eats things he shouldn't, listens to others he shouldn't…so he's safer in here. We're safer in here. I hoped if I locked him in here, the one he obeys would come for him. Instead I get you."

"Yes. I'm sorry that I'm not who you were hoping to see…but I was kind of looking for you. I'm trying to find others with slave collars like mine."

He gave off a short laugh then sobered. "It's close. Closer than I'd like…Dog's been into things, needs to think before he eats, chew before he swallows. He's…eager that way. Now the collars a part of me. Inside. I can feel its electronic heartbeat, clicking and burning down below…like before. It was cold and heavy before going into the cage…now you're here, and it's pulling and kicking again, tugging like a leash. Interesting."

"I never activated it though...I…"

"Really. Yet it lead you here, to me. And now you're here, and it's burning a hole in my guts. Maybe it's crying for its owner."

She shook her head. "Not I…Wait…How the heck did yo…Dog, manage to eat the collar?"

"They detach…When segmented, they look like nothing more than metallic Radscorpions…and if they're attached to neck flesh, warm, red…Dog doesn't care what's on the body he's crushing in his hands, he'll mangle it, twist it, make it fit until he's full. Dog can't help himself…hungry…greedy… And now the collar's inside, alive again. And we're trapped here until it goes cold."

A small frown took residence on her face, and she tried to think of something to say. _Screw it!_

"I…I have some other things I need to ask."

"Of course you do. So do I." He replied. Amusement colouring his voice.

"About opening that cage then…I'm guessing that you wouldn't have locked yourself in there without some sort of key to get out."

"The key? Why it's the Old Man, the one who brought us here. I hid the key on me so Dog wouldn't know…I just need the Old Man to show up, so he and I can talk. If Dog was in control when the Old Man appeared…well, he would just do whatever he commanded, as always. And I can't have that."

"But…wouldn't the Old Man be able to command Dog to open the cage?"  
>"Dog…obeys. Yes. Why…do you have some means of contacting the Old Man?"<p>

"I have his voice on my Pip-Boy…Much in the same way that I have yours."

She had only meant it as an example, a means for which to explain. He took it the wrong way.

"You…don't play it. If you do, I'll find a way to get out of the cage, end you. I'll murder you, crush your arms and legs until…"

Eliza was bug-eyed, shocked, and afraid. "Please calm down…I didn't mean it like that…just explaining. I won't play the tape. I swear!" Her sentences were strung together and clearly gave away her fear. Oh, how much she wanted to go back to the Mojave.

"No, you wouldn't. If you did, you won't escape this place alive. I'd shatter every one of your limbs to splinters and leave you here. You think I'm afraid of your collar exploding, killing us? No, I'll leave you breathing, then keep walking until my collar goes cold. I'll prop your broken body in view of the Sierra Madre so you can see what you came to steal…forever out of reach as you die."

She was full on terrified of now as she pictured the scene that he had painted. As calmly as possible, she tried to explain that she wouldn't cross him. "I swear to you that I won't let Dog out. I have the power to do it, but I won't."

He regarded her for a moment then sighed. "Hnh. No…no you're not. Even though Dog's is more docile…easier to control. You may regret this. This place…this place is where creatures like Dog can survive. The people that fill its streets…He is as vicious, more vicious than them. His hunger can help you more than I can. When I am in control…this shell is difficult to…fight in."

_Good God! This guy is confusing…wait…hee hee…stupid pun._ She bit her lower lip to stop her giggles.

"Why's that?" She asked, trying to compose herself.

"The…inhabitants of the Villa. They are difficult to kill. They need to be chopped apart, hacked on the ground…disintegrated, if you can. They are difficult to kill…but not to devour. And Dog is always hungry. If he is with you, when they fall, he will fall on them, end them. If I am with you…fighting will be far more difficult. "

She smiled genuily at him, but also trying to forget her first encounter with the ghost people.

"It's fine. We'll manage I'm sure." She stated simply.

His head cocked to the side, and his voice had softened. "I am not sure you belong here," he began, looking at her smile all the while. "No, you don't belong here. Yet…you came this far. And I'm not interested in remaining here any longer. I'll unlock the cage."

"Hmn. Let's get out of here then."

He unlocked the cage and stepped out. He turned to her. "Very well…lead on."

**And that, my dear friends, was chapter 5. **

**I've already said this but my game glitched to the point of no return (fifth damn time!), I was…upset, and I was not in the writing mood. That is why I'm…is it two weeks?…behind. Umm…copyrights go to the respective owners…I'm going ahead and saying right now that God's lines are quotes. Because they are…should be…exactly what he said in the game. Same with some of the stuff Doc Mitchell said…in the previous chapters…So, credit is given, to where credit is due. Which isn't to me, and neither to you. **

**Hells yeah, I'm rhymin'! *Giggles* I have no life, clearly. Anyways, I still like the old Old Spice Guy and am not a stickler for the new one. But hey, who am I to complain? **

**And on that note, Boone is still my favourite companion. Especially since in Fallout 3, Fawkes decided that it'd be a great idea to kill everyone in the cities and town's that we went to. I had to start leaving him outside…and then Chabon (sha-bon) (actually Charon) would die quicker than you could say cheese…and Boone's the best shot this side of the universe. He's also the only companion (besides Fawkes) that doesn't give you even the slightest bit of "I might not make it!" when travelling the wastes. Damnit! I want peanut butter now, for some unforeseen reason. And a butter tart. **

**I'm rambling again. Damn scatterbrained you! Hee-hee…Bubbles. Oh! Thanks to AgressiveNegotiations for always brightening my day. Grazie, mia amica.**

**Blessed be,**

**JammersFlood **


End file.
